Senior Plastics Engineer, Material & Testing

Location: Newark, CA

Duration: 9-10 Months

Description:

The Role:

Be a significant contributor to a world-class vehicle engineering team by supporting with plastics expertise and owning polymer-related aspects of development

Consultation with design engineers and suppliers throughout product development process, focusing on material selection, design optimization, part function, efficiency, and cost

Extraction of material requirements from part specifications and material selection after holistic evaluation of plastic grades

Utilization of understanding of polymers (e.g. structure property relation) to troubleshoot parts and processes

Support of internal non-engineering teams and representation of Client material team in communication with suppliers (incl. on-site visits)

Qualifications:

B.Sc. in polymer engineering, material science or related field

5+ years’ experience, selecting and developing plastics and composite materials.

Must have worked in automotive development environment, ideally through a complete product development process

Good knowledge of automotive injection molded materials

Proven experience in selection of plastic grades for different applications across automotive commodities (e.g. interiors, exteriors, powertrain)

Exemplary verbal and written communication skills

Advantageous:

M.Sc. in polymer engineering preferred

Experience with automotive materials for compression molding, and overmolding/back-injection designs utilizing luxury materials such as synthetic leather, suede, textiles, wood, and metal

Hands-on experience with injection molding process optimization and familiarity with other plastic manufacturing processes and their part designs (e.g. blow molding, thermal forming, vacuum forming, slush molding, resin infusion)

Familiarity with secondary processes (e.g. joining, painting, plating, press/vacuum lamination)